Rock and Roll at the Cafe

 Rock and Roll at the Cafe

 Creation Date:Wednesday, November 1, 2017

It's 7:00 in the evening and you are riding the train home from your job in the city after what has probably been one of the worst days of your employment. For starters it's been an extra long day because you put in a couple of extra hours to make up for loss in production. You are very tired with a splitting headache. Aside from that, you haven't eaten anything since breakfast. This is because you didn't have chance to stop for lunch, or even take a break with all the unfair expectations placed on you at work.

While staring out the window of the train, you decide to stop at a neighborhood cafe for dinner because it's too late in the evening for you to fix anything to eat at home. And maybe eating something before going home will help you get your mind off the at work. After all it's been a terribly stressful day with the peak of the stress being the boss yelling at you because you are unable to perform under the new expectations. It seems they want everything done fast these days.

You get off the train, and start walking down the main street in your hometown. And as luck would have it, it starts to rain.

"Blast it anyway!"

You left your umbrella at home. Can't anything go right for your today?

The cafe you intend to stop at is only a few blocks up the street. You're almost there. And once you get inside, everything will be alright. They usually have really good food there for dinner and you can even reward yourself with a much-deserved dessert.

A couple minutes later, you enter the cafe and are relieved to be out of the rain.

But what's this?

Recently the cafe acquired a record player that is connected to speakers so that they can be placed at different locations of the cafe to ensure that all guests are able to hear the music.

And just what sort of Music are they playing tonight?

Why, they are playing that blasted rock and roll music! It seems like every business you go to is playing it these days. You can't stand that rock and roll music! It's nothing but noise from what you can hear.

Regardless, you find a seat near the window that is away from the other patrons of the cafe and wait for a server.

There's a menu sitting at the table so that you can browse tonight's specials. It looks like they have a hearty pork chop dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a side dish of vegetable medley.

"Good evening!" greets a waitress. "Can I start you off with a cup of coffee?"

"Yeah go ahead and fill me up." you answer. "And can't I get some decent peace and quiet without all that racket?"

"Excuse me?"

"That rock and roll music that you're playing, does it have to be so loud?"

"I'm sorry about that, sir." apologizes the waitress. "I'll turn it down for you."

"Well why don't you turn it off?" you suggest. "If nothing else, why don't you put on some some decent music to help people like me relax after a hard day at work. I've had a terrible day, and I can't deal with too much right now."

"I'm very sorry to hear about your bad day." acknowledges the waitress. But I'm afraid the owner doesn't want to change the music because many of the customers coming in here at night are younger people who like this sort of music."

You look around and can see that many of the patrons are young kids who, for some reason, have chosen to hang out at the local cafe on a Wednesday evening for what looks like coffee and dessert.

"Shouldn't they be at home where they belong?" you challenge. "Don't their parents give them a curfew? I mean it's a Wednesday night, not Saturday."

At this point, the waitress doesn't know what to say. She simply pours your coffee and asks if you are ready to order.

"Yeah, give me the pork chops and mashed potatoes special."

"I'll get that in for you." promises the waitress as she walks away.

But before she gets too far, you call out and say, "Oh... and please... turn the noise down a bit."

"Will do..." reassures the waitress.

About a minute later, the volume of the rock and roll music comes down just a couple of notches. But you can still hear it, and it's driving you crazy.

Everything is different today. The times are changing. Why, even at work things are being done differently. Ever since the owner of the company retired and his son, Peter, took over; things have changed because he's younger and wants things done differently... wants everything done faster. He seems to think that everyone should work faster and get more production out. Just how in the world are you supposed work at that pace and meet those types of expectations while staying dedicated to quality?

As the minutes pass, you continue to think of all the ways your place of work as well as society has changed. And then it hits you! You've noticed the disturbing change ever since the invasion of rock and roll music. This is why society suddenly expects things to be fast with no regard for anything else. It's that rock and roll! It does something to the mind!

You go back to that moment earlier in the day when your manager, Peter, approached you at your work station and had the audacity to advise that you need to step up and realize that we can't operate at a relaxed pace anymore. "Those days are over, and this is a highly competitive business. Customers want more, and they want more for less money. And if an older person like you can't get with the times, then I'm afraid we'll have to replace you with a younger person who can."

Hours later, those words continue to echo in your mind. And they just don't sit well with you.

You take a sip of your coffee and have difficulty enjoying it because all you can hear is that blasted rock and roll music. The vocalist can't even pronounce the words right. It's like he's teaching younger people a new language that will enable to speed things up. "We're gonna rock gonna rock-oh 'round the clock tonight..."

It's songs like this that are causing the sudden decay in our society.

Suddenly, you leap out of your seat and storm over to the counter where a record player is spinning a 12 inch record with a collection of popular rock and roll songs that younger people enjoy. You pick up the entire record player which immediately causes the harsh scratching noise. With all your anger and frustration built up from the stressful day, you rip the speaker wire out from the back and yank out the electrical cord that's plugged into the wall.

"Hey!" A voice yells.

You have no idea who yells this, only that you are going to fix the plague that is ruining modern day society.

You approach the front of the cafe window, and hurl the record player right through the glass.

The record player and shattered glass crashes onto the rainy sidewalk.

And that's the end of rock and roll music for this cafe.

The End!